1. Field of invention
The present invention relates generally to the financial service and card product industries, and, more particularly, to systems, computer program products, and associated methods of providing an automatic credit line draw in preselected increments for a prepaid card.
2. Background
Millions of prepaid cards are issued each year in the United States. It is known that many consumers rely primarily on cash and a prepaid card account for their personal finances; these consumers often do not have a traditional checking, savings, or other bank deposit account, and they usually do not write checks. These consumers typically do not have a credit card.
It is also known to use a prepaid card as payment for a proposed purchase at a merchant. The consumer proposes a purchase and submits the prepaid card to the merchant so that the merchant can request authorization from a prepaid card processor associated with the prepaid card. That is, the merchant checks that funds are available in the account associated with the prepaid card to cover the amount of the proposed purchase. This authorization process also provides an opportunity for security services, such as, for example, determining if the prepaid card has been reported as stolen. If there are insufficient funds available in the account associated with the prepaid card to cover the amount of the proposed purchase, the authorization request is denied by the prepaid card processor, and the proposed purchase is rejected by the merchant. Embarrassed and disappointed, many rejected consumers quickly give up and leave the merchant's premises so that even if a loan or credit were readily available with minimal effort, such as, for example, by placing a short phone call to the prepaid card processor or to a lender, the proposed purchase is abandoned.
It is known that consumers can receive a loan without having a bank account and that proceeds from a loan can be credited to or posted to a prepaid card. Loans, including, e.g., payday loans, payday advances, and other short-term cash advances, however, involve hassles of applying for and obtaining the loan prior to the consumer having access to the funds. In addition, inherent in requesting a loan is determining the amount of the loan. If the loan amount is too small, the consumer may need to obtain an additional loan, with additional fees; if the loan amount is too large, the consumer will needlessly pay extra interest.